Hosting is usually chosen once, in a hurry before launch, and then forgotten for years. As long as the site runs, that is fine. But when it goes down in the middle of an ad campaign and support answers a day later, it turns out the choice mattered more than it seemed.
Below is how to choose hosting for a business card site, a landing page, or a small service without deep technical knowledge, and which questions to ask the developer before you pay for the first year.
First, understand what the site is
Hosting is picked for the site, not the other way around. So the first question to the developer is what exactly will run on the server.
- A static site or a landing page without an admin panel can live almost anywhere and does not need a powerful server
- A site on a CMS such as WordPress needs PHP, a database, and regular updates
- A site with user accounts, its own application server, or a Telegram bot usually goes on a VPS, where you can run your own processes
- An online store needs stability, backups, and spare capacity on sale days
If the developer cannot explain why this type of hosting was chosen, ask again.
Where the server is
It is better to place the server close to your visitors. If your clients are in one country and the server is on another continent, every page opens a little slower, and on mobile data that shows.
There is a legal side too. If the site collects names, phone numbers, and other personal data, some countries have rules about where that data is stored. Check this before choosing a provider, not after a complaint.
What matters more than a low price
The cheapest plan often looks the same as a pricier one until something goes wrong. Compare more than the price:
- How fast and in what language support answers, and whether it works on weekends
- Whether the provider makes backups, how often, and whether you can restore them yourself
- Whether there is a free HTTPS certificate that renews on its own
- What the renewal costs, not only the discounted first year
- Whether you can move to a bigger plan without migrating
Backups and access
The provider’s backups are useful, but they do not replace your own. It is good when a copy of the site and database also goes to separate storage on a schedule, and a restore has been tested at least once.
The hosting account should be in your name and paid with your card. The developer can get separate access that you can switch off when needed. More on this in the note on domain, hosting, and access.
How not to get stuck with one provider
Sometimes hosting has to change: the provider raised prices, support got worse, or the site outgrew the plan. The move goes smoothly if a few simple conditions are met in advance:
- The domain is registered separately from the hosting, or can be transferred without trouble
- The site code lives in a repository, not only on the server
- There is a short guide on how to deploy the site in a new place
- Email on the domain is not tightly tied to the same hosting
If the site already runs but opens slowly, start with the note on speed on a phone. If you want us to pick hosting for your project, use the contact form.